Chapter 23
Bending down until his lips were nearly touching his mate’s neck, Brady paused for a moment, inhaling the rose scent wafting up from Lucius.
It was perfect, exactly what he would have wanted if the Fates ever would have asked.
“This might hurt a bit since I don’t have fangs,” he whispered, his breath skittering over his mate’s skin.
A shiver went down Lucius’ spine as he felt the light, warm air caressing his neck. Need rose within him, a feeling new to his body. “Doesn’t matter…just…please do it!”
Swallowing his nervousness, Brady did as asked. Biting down where Lucius’ neck met his shoulder, his teeth easily broke through, blood filling his mouth, Moaning at its rich taste, Brady’s cock grew hard as a thread of magic entered his heart, tying it to his mate’s and giving Brady immortality.
Lucius was unprepared for the effect of his mate’s bite.
Expecting discomfort, he felt none, although that could not be said of the death spell as it left his body.
Pain worse than anything he’d previously felt flashed through him like a lightning bolt, burning him from the inside out.
But before he could cry out, an icy cold sensation followed, bringing him the first relief he’d had since the night he was turned.
Then, his mate’s love flooded his senses, overwhelming him, causing tears to fall from his eyes.
The last time he’d received such abundant affection was in his childhood—a lifetime ago.
Sighing, Lucius closed his eyes as peace flooded his soul.
Brady didn’t want to stop. The connection between them was amazing, affecting every part of his body and mind.
It wasn’t what he’d expected, but he appreciated it so much more now that he could fully grasp what his mate had gone through before arriving at the vineyard.
Reluctantly withdrawing his teeth from his mate’s tender skin, he watched his bite mark slowly heal itself.
Rubbing a fingertip over the scar left behind, Brady smiled at the trembling of Lucius’ body.
Raising his head until his lips were hovering over Lucius’, Brady waited until his mate opened his eyes.
Gazing into those deep, violet orbs, he saw the shadow of pain was gone, reminding him of the ocean’s calmness on a late summer’s day.
Feeling the need to taste his mate’s mouth, but hesitant to force himself on Lucius, Brady whispered, “May I?”
Puffs of air from his mate’s words teased Lucius, tantalizing him as he imagined how Brady’s lips would feel against his.
Suddenly craving that intense connection, he decided not to wait, raising his head until his lips finally touched his mate’s.
Mewling at the softness of them, Lucius pressed harder, wanting…
no, needing to be consumed by them. He’d never felt this way, never knew he could feel this way.
Moving slowly, Lucius’ lips devoured his mate’s, mapping them out in his mind. It was sheer heaven.
Responding to his mate’s actions, Brady’s body overflowed with exquisite pleasure—more than he’d ever thought possible.
Sticking out the tip of his tongue, he pressed it against Lucius’ lips, seeking entry into his mouth.
Seizing the opportunity when his mate gasped, he slid his tongue in, searching for and finally finding the object of his desire.
It only took Lucius a moment to wrap his tongue around Brady’s. Groaning deep in his throat as he tasted his mate, the need for Brady overwhelmed him until nothing else mattered except the two of them. And that’s when Lucius lost his heart to the warlock without magic.
When Brady lifted his head slightly to take a deep breath, the tiny sounds of his mate’s objection floated into the air, causing him to smile.
Staring down into the lust-filled eyes of his mate, he slowly ran his hand down the side of Lucius’ face, stopping at his jaw.
Brady murmured, “Leelan…is the pain gone?”
Keeping his gaze locked on his mate’s, Lucius whispered, “Yes…”
Closing his eyes briefly, Brady said a prayer of thanks to the Fates for giving him the opportunity to care for Lucius.
Having a mate—much less, a perfect one—was something he’d never thought about.
Once his magic was gone, the doctor had told his mother it would never happen.
But he guessed the Fates never got the memo on that.
“Are you all right?” Lucius asked, concern showing in his face.
Snapping his eyes open, Brady nodded, his thumb gently caressing his mate’s face. “I am, leelan…very, very good. What about you?”
“Me too…different, but okay.”
“In what way?”
“Well…it’s hard to describe. When I woke up and found myself turned into a vampire, I was stunned; as far as I knew, they were fictional characters in books and movies.
I remember pain throughout my body…not crippling pain keeping me from doing anything, but more like a constant ache.
It was only relieved after I fed from my master.
Then, for a little while, it would go away, only to slowly creep back over the next day or so. ”
“It was part of the death spell and meant to make you dependent on your master,” Brady explained.
“It did. The need for his blood would grow but I never knew when he’d give me more. The uncertainty would drive me crazy and, as time passed, I’d find myself trying hard not to make mistakes and to follow his orders perfectly so nothing would keep me from feeding. I hated it.”
“But now?”
“The pain that began after my master’s death is gone…and so is the constant ache.”
“That’s how it should be, leelan.”
“It feels amazing!”
“But…” Brady sensed there was more.
Lowering his eyes, Lucius whispered, “It didn’t take away my craving for blood…not my master’s but yours. I can hear it pumping through your body and smell it. It’s driving me crazy with need…something I only experienced with Valerian.”
Tapping on his mate’s chin to get his attention, Brady waited until Lucius looked up at him. “And you’re afraid I’ll use your need for my blood to control you like your master did.”
Searching the deep blue eyes gazing at him, Lucius found only love reflecting from them, giving him the confidence to answer. Nodding slowly, he murmured, “Yes, I’m afraid of that.”
“I understand…and it’s quite normal for you to feel that way after what you went through. But, it won’t happen with us because we are Fated Mates.”
“Why not? What makes that so special?”
Brady’s brow furrowed; then he remembered his mate was relatively new to the paranormal world. “What do you know about Fated Mates?”
“Not much…only what Valerian told me and that was mainly about sea dragons. He wanted me to be aware of them in case Reif found his Fated Mate. According to him, I’d know when it happened because Reif would smell like…oh, no! It can’t be!”
At a loss for what was upsetting his mate, Brady asked, “Leelan, what is it?”
Tears glistened in the corners of Lucius’ eyes at the thought his mate would stop smelling of apples…the scent of his home…and safety. “I don’t want you to lose your scent.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Brady, perplexed.
“Cause that’s what happened when Reif found his mate.
His scent changed…well not changed so much…
but kind of mingled with the sea serpent’s.
Valerian told me that’s how I’d know, and if it happened, I was to report it to him immediately.
But you smell like apples to me and I love it!
Is there any way to make sure you keep it? ”
Cursing Valerian in his mind, Brady smoothed out the frown on Lucius’ forehead with his finger. “Shh, don’t fret…I will never smell of anything other than apples to you as you will always smell of roses to me…I promise.”
“But how come it wasn’t that way with the sea dragon when he met his Fated Mate?”
“It was…only you didn’t realize it because you weren’t his Fated Mate,” Brady explained.
“When someone finds his Fated Mate, their scents co-mingle as a signal to other paranormals that the person is taken. But to the Fated Mates, their scents remain pure, because it was part of what attracted them to each other in the first place. Go ahead, sniff me, then tell me what you smell.”
Dubiously, Lucius took a small sniff, finding it hard to accept his mate’s explanation. Apples! Shocked, he stared at Brady. He’s right! Then, inhaling more deeply, his nose filled with the smell of tree-ripened apples, begging to be picked. Excited, he said, “Smell me…do I still smell like roses?”
Grinning, Brady made a show of inhaling, enjoying the look of wonderment reflected in his mate’s eyes. “Can’t smell any apples…only roses.”
“Oh wow! That is amazing!”
“The scents the Fates give to each mate are supposed to bring happy memories to them…so I’m guessing you associate apples with happy times.”
“I do…all summer long my siblings and I would climb the apple trees on our land, checking the ripeness of the fruit. It was always a contest to see who’d find the first ripe apple ready to be picked.
Even after I moved to the city, I still went back on the weekends to do it.
It was so much fun…especially when I won,” Lucius said, his eyes twinkling with happiness.
“I can’t wait to hear more, but first, it’s time for another bag of blood.” Standing up, Brady picked up a new one, then switched it out with the empty one. After checking to make sure it was flowing smoothly into Lucius’ arm, he sat back down and asked, “How are you feeling?”
Missing the touch of his mate, Lucius raised his arm and sought out Brady’s hand.
Linking their fingers together, a happy little mewl of pleasure escaped him.
It had been so long since someone touched him in any way other than with cruelty that he’d forgotten how it felt.
Looking down at their hands, he examined them, loving how they looked intertwined.
He was one with his mate, he was at peace with his mate—he just knew it.
And he couldn’t wait until they could hug because that’s what he missed most from his human life.
His family were huggers, big huggers; no reason was needed to hug in his family.
My family. Sadness claimed him. Lucius missed them so much, especially since he was now free of Valerian.
Home was where he’d been heading after Valerian died and could no longer threaten his family.
But, he never made it because the death spell held him in thrall to his despised master.
Tears filled his eyes, but not wanting his mate to see them, Lucius lowered his eyelids, keeping the pain of his thoughts hidden.
But pain had lanced Brady’s heart as his mate’s sorrow filled his soul.
Searching Lucius’ face for what had caused his mate’s mood to shift so rapidly, Brady met with defeat; he could see nothing except a few tears.
Leaning down, he kissed them away before asking, “Leelan, what’s wrong? Please…tell me.”
Shaking his head slightly, Lucius couldn’t give voice to his thoughts.
It was a lesson he learned early in his new life as a vampire.
He was told—ordered, actually—to forget about his former life including his family, but it was impossible.
The memories of them remained too vividly in his mind.
And on the many nights when he was alone, his grief at their loss was so profound, Lucius prayed for death, for he saw no viable way out of his plight.
It was on the worst of those nights, when his sobs filled the small room and his pillow became soaked with tears, that Valerian would suddenly appear, ready to punish him for disobeying an order.
He finally learned to keep those memories locked away, only to be cherished when he was sure his master wouldn’t discipline him.
But now, even though Valerian could no longer hurt him, he still couldn’t talk about his family.
Unwilling to cause his mate any further distress, Brady changed the topic. “Do you want to know why I love your scent?”
Grateful his mate wasn’t going to push him, Lucius opened his eyes, giving a small smile of thanks before answering, “Yes.”
“My grandmother grew roses…and I mean a lot of them. So many that their house was always filled with their delicious scents and I began to associate them with her.”
“She meant a lot to you.”
“Indeed, she did. When I lost my magic, she insisted I live with her and my grandfather for a year.”
“What did your parents say?”
“My mother didn’t want me to go but she finally realized it was for the best.”
“Why?”
“Because my father was dying and my mother was busy taking care of him. I was still weak and unable to walk and needed help with even the simplest tasks. And, for a while, she did try to take care of us both, but in the end, my grandmother convinced her she’d not be helping either of us if she ended up getting ill. ”
“Were you happy there?”
“At first, no. But then my grandmother decided I needed something to do that would keep my mind off what was happening with my father, so she wheeled me outside early one morning, gave me a basket I could hold in my lap and then told me about each rose in her garden as she pushed my wheelchair, occasionally stopping to cut a bloom. By the time she finished, the basket on my lap was filled with the most amazing colors…and their scent…oh my, so delicious.”
“You must have been very sick if you couldn’t walk.”
“I guess I was…although I didn’t realize it at the time. It was also the reason I lost my magic…no one even thought it could happen but once I was on the road to recovery, my mother discovered it was gone…a side effect no one expected.”
“Were you sad when you found out?”
“No…not really. More angry than anything else. It was one of the reasons my grandmother wanted me to stay with her. My mother didn’t have the time to help me learn how to deal with the loss.”
“But your grandmother did, I’m guessing.”
Smiling softly, Brady nodded. “Her lessons have stood me in great stead throughout my life…along with her love of roses. So you see, the Fates gave me the perfect mate because your scent gives me a sense of home, love, and the hope everything will work out in the end. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that. ”